Ajit Biswas Vs State of West Bengal and Anr. — Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) | Calcutta HC (2026)

Ajit Biswas Vs State of West Bengal and Anr. — Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) | Calcutta HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petitioner Ajit Biswas ordered released on bail upon furnishing a bond of Rs.20,000/- with two sureties of Rs.10,000/- each (one surety must be local) to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court under POCSO Act-cum-Additional District and Sessions Judge, 2nd Court, Malda; subject to conditions of physical presence on every date fixed by the Special Court and no departure from the district of Malda without prior permission; the bail application was disposed of accordingly.

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner, in custody for 2 years 8 months in a POCSO/IPC case in which the victim's evidence is complete but 13 of 14 witnesses remain to be examined, should be released on bail under Section 439 CrPC / Section 483 BNSS given that the trial is unlikely to conclude in the near future.

Court's answer

Taking into account the completed evidence of the victim, the petitioner's custody of 2 years 8 months, and 13 witnesses still to be examined, the court held there is no possibility of the trial concluding in the near future and accordingly allowed the prayer for bail.

Ratio / Principle

Release on bail was made subject to conditions that the petitioner be physically present on each and every date fixed by the learned Special Court and not leave the jurisdiction of the district of Malda without its prior permission.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bail granted — prolonged custody and delayed trial — High Court at Calcutta (Tirthankar Ghosh, J.), order dated 04.02.2026 in C.R.M. (M) 2101 of 2025 (Ajit Biswas) under Section 439 CrPC / Section 483 BNSS arising from Gazole Police Station Case No. 456 of 2023 (Sections 363/365/342/376(2)(n)/506 IPC and Section 6 POCSO Act). Petitioner in custody 2 years 8 months; victim's evidence complete but only 1 of 14 witnesses examined; court found no possibility of the trial concluding in the near future and allowed bail on a bond of Rs.20,000/- with two sureties of Rs.10,000/- each (one local) before the Special Court under POCSO Act-cum-Additional District and Sessions Judge, 2nd Court, Malda, conditioned on attendance on every date and non-departure from Malda district without prior permission.

04.02.2026 Item No. M/L.135 Ct.No.35 dc.

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS JURISDICTION

Allowed

C.R.M. (M) 2101 of 2025

In Re : An Application for bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 corresponding to Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 filed in connection with Gazole Police Station Case No. 456 of 2023 dated 09.06.2023 under Sections 363/365/342/ 376(2)(n)/506 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.

And In Re : Ajit Biswas Mr. Amitabha Karmakar, Mr. Arup Kumar Bhowmick Mr. Anupam Das Adhikary, Ms. Suruchi Saha

... Petitioner. ... For the Petitioner. ... For the State.

Report submitted by the learned advocate appearing for the State be kept with the record.

Learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is in custody for 2 years 8 months and out of 14 witnesses proposed to be examined, only one witness till date has been examined.

Learned advocate appearing for the State, on the other hand, opposes the prayer for bail and produces the case diary.

I have taken into account the evidence of the victim. Having regard to the fact that the petitioner is in custody for 2 years 8 months and the evidence of the victim is over and 13 more witnesses are yet to be examined, I am of the view

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that there is no possibility of the trial concluding in near future. Having considered the same, I am inclined to release the petitioner on bail. As such, the prayer for bail of the petitioner is allowed .

Accordingly, the petitioner viz., Ajit Biswas shall be released on bail upon furnishing bond of Rs.20,000/-, with two sureties of Rs.10,000/- each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Judge, Special Court under POCSO Act-cum-Additional District and Sessions Judge, 2^nd Court, Malda.

If on bail, the petitioner shall be physically present on each and every date so fixed by the learned Special Court and shall not leave the jurisdiction of the district of Malda without prior permission of the learned Special Court.

The application for bail, being CRM (M) 2101 of 2025, is, thus, disposed of.

All concerned parties shall act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.

Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties upon compliance with all requisite formalities.

(Tirthankar Ghosh, J.)